National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), an independent agency of the U.S. government that supports the creation, dissemination, and performance of the arts. It was created by the U.S. Congress in the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965. The agency funds a variety of projects in literature, music, theatre, film, dance, fine arts, sculpture, and crafts. It also manages the awarding of the National Medal of Arts. This medal is presented by the president of the United States to any living citizen or group of citizens or organization that is “deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.” For a list of National Medal of Arts winners, see below.

The majority of NEA grants go directly to institutions such as art museums, not-for-profit theatres, and symphony orchestras; to arts programs in schools; and to organizers of events such as folk-art festivals. Typically, recipients are required to match their NEA grants with funding from other sources. Grants are also awarded to individual artists for specific projects—for example, to an author for writing a novel or to a jazz musician for composing an extended work. The endowment has especially encouraged culturally diverse American arts, providing National Heritage Fellowship Awards to folk and blues musicians, instrument makers, weavers, metalworkers, woodcarvers, and others who embody Native American, Latin American, Asian, and other ethnic arts traditions in American communities.

Grants are often awarded by the NEA in cooperation with state and local arts agencies. When the NEA began, the United States had five state arts agencies; after the NEA’s third decade, all states had arts agencies. In that period the number of arts organizations in the United States increased dramatically, including twice as many large symphony orchestras, an 8-fold increase in theatres, and a 10-fold increase in dance companies. Subsequent opposition to the NEA in the U.S. Congress, however, resulted in a decrease in funding from a high of nearly $176 million in 1992 to less than $100 million in 1996.

The winners of the National Medal of Arts are provided in the table.

National Medal of Arts

year

name

field

*Awarded posthumously.

1985

Elliott Carter, Jr.

composer

Ralph Ellison

writer

José Ferrer

actor

Martha Graham

dancer, choreographer

Louise Nevelson

sculptor

Georgia O’Keeffe

painter

Leontyne Price

opera singer

Dorothy Buffum Chandler

patron

Lincoln Kirstein

patron

Paul Mellon

patron

Alice Tully

patron

Hallmark Cards, Inc.

patron

1986

Marian Anderson

opera singer

Frank Capra

film director

Aaron Copland

composer

Willem de Kooning

painter

Agnes de Mille

dancer, choreographer

Eva Le Gallienne

actress, producer

Alan Lomax

ethnomusicologist

Lewis Mumford

architectural critic

Eudora Welty

writer

Dominique de Menil

patron

Exxon Corp.

patron

Seymour H. Knox

patron

1987

Romare Bearden

painter

Ella Fitzgerald

singer

Howard Nemerov

writer, scholar

Alwin Nikolais

dancer, choreographer

Isamu Noguchi

sculptor

William Schuman

composer

Robert Penn Warren

writer

J.W. Fisher

patron

Armand Hammer

patron

Sydney and Frances Lewis

patrons

1988

Saul Bellow

writer

Helen Hayes

actress

Gordon Parks

filmmaker, photographer, writer

I.M. Pei

architect

Jerome Robbins

dancer, choreographer

Rudolf Serkin

pianist

Virgil Thomson

composer, music critic

Sydney J. Freedberg

art historian, curator

Roger L. Stevens

arts administrator

Brooke Astor

patron

Francis Goelet

patron

Obert C. Tanner

patron

1989

Leopold Adler

historic preservationist, civic leader

Katherine Dunham

dancer, choreographer

Alfred Eisenstaedt

photojournalist

Martin Friedman

museum director

Leigh Gerdine

civic leader, patron

Dizzy Gillespie

jazz musician

Walker K. Hancock

sculptor

Vladimir Horowitz*

pianist

Czesław Miłosz

writer, critic

Robert Motherwell

painter

John Updike

writer, critic

Dayton Hudson Corp.

patron

1990

George Abbott

theatre producer, director, writer

Hume Cronyn

actor, director

Jessica Tandy

actress

Merce Cunningham

dancer, choreographer

Jasper Johns

painter, sculptor

Jacob Lawrence

painter

B.B. King

blues musician

Beverly Sills

opera singer

Ian McHarg

landscape architect

Harris and Carroll Sterling Masterson

patrons

David Lloyd Kreeger

patron

Southeastern Bell Corp.

patron

1991

Maurice Abravanel

conductor, music director

Roy Acuff

country musician

Pietro Belluschi

architect

J. Carter Brown

museum director

Honi Coles

tap dancer

John O. Crosby

opera director, conductor

Richard Diebenkorn

painter

Isaac Stern

violinist

Kitty Carlisle Hart

actress, singer

Pearl Primus

choreographer, anthropologist

R. Philip Hanes, Jr.

patron

Texaco Inc.

patron

1992

Marilyn Horne

opera singer

James Earl Jones

actor

Allan Houser

sculptor

Minnie Pearl

entertainer

Robert Saudek

television producer, museum director

Earl Scruggs

banjo player

Robert Shaw

conductor

Billy Taylor

jazz pianist

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown

architects

Robert Wise

film director

AT&T

patron

Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund

patron

1993

Cab Calloway

jazz musician

Ray Charles

soul musician

Bess Lomax Hawes

folklorist, musician

Stanley Kunitz

poet

Robert Merrill

opera singer

Arthur Miller

playwright

Robert Rauschenberg

painter

Lloyd Richards

theatre director

William Styron

writer

Paul Taylor

dancer, choreographer

Billy Wilder

film director, writer

Walter and Leonore Annenberg

patrons

1994

Harry Belafonte

folksinger, actor

Dave Brubeck

jazz musician

Celia Cruz

salsa singer

Dorothy DeLay

violin instructor

Julie Harris

actress

Erick Hawkins

dancer, choreographer

Gene Kelly

dancer, actor

Pete Seeger

folk musician

Wayne Thiebaud

painter

Richard Wilbur

poet

Young Audiences

arts organization

Catherine Filene Shouse

patron

1995

Licia Albanese

opera singer

Gwendolyn Brooks

poet

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee

actors

David Diamond

composer

James Ingo Freed

architect

Bob Hope

entertainer

Roy Lichtenstein

painter

Arthur Mitchell

dancer, choreographer

William S. Monroe

bluegrass musician

Urban Gateways

arts education organization

B. Gerald and Iris Cantor

patrons

1996

Edward Albee

playwright

Sarah Caldwell

opera conductor

Harry Callahan

photographer

Zelda Fichandler

theatre founder, director

Lalo Guerrero

musician

Lionel Hampton

swing musician

Bella Lewitzky

dancer, choreographer

Robert Redford

actor, film director

Maurice Sendak

illustrator, writer

Stephen Sondheim

composer, lyricist

Boys Choir of Harlem

choir

Vera List

patron

1997

Louise Bourgeois

sculptor

Betty Carter

jazz singer

Daniel Urban Kiley

landscape architect

Angela Lansbury

actress

James Levine

opera conductor, pianist

Tito Puente

jazz and mambo musician

Jason Robards

actor

Edward Villella

dancer, choreographer

Doc Watson

folk and country musician

MacDowell Colony

artists’ colony

Agnes Gund

patron

1998

Jacques d’Amboise

dancer, choreographer

Fats Domino

rock-and-roll musician

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott

folk musician

Frank O. Gehry

architect

Agnes Martin

painter

Gregory Peck

actor

Roberta Peters

opera singer

Philip Roth

writer

Gwen Verdon

actress, dancer

Steppenwolf Theatre Company

arts organization

Sara Lee Corp.

patron

Barbara Handman

patron

1999

Aretha Franklin

soul singer

Michael Graves

architect, designer

Odetta

folksinger

Norman Lear

television producer, writer

Rosetta LeNoire

actress, theatre founder

Harvey Lichtenstein

arts administrator

Lydia Mendoza

Tejano musician

George Segal

sculptor

Maria Tallchief

ballet dancer

Juilliard School

performing arts school

Irene Diamond

patron

2000

Maya Angelou

poet, writer

Eddy Arnold

country musician

Mikhail Baryshnikov

dancer, dance company director

Benny Carter

jazz musician

Chuck Close

painter

Horton Foote

dramatist

Claes Oldenburg

sculptor

Itzhak Perlman

violinist

Harold Prince

theatre director

Barbra Streisand

singer, actress

Lewis Manilow

patron

National Public Radio cultural programming division

broadcaster

2001

Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation

modern dance company and school

Rudolfo Anaya

writer

Johnny Cash

country musician

Kirk Douglas

actor

Helen Frankenthaler

painter

Judith Jamison

dancer, choreographer

Yo-Yo Ma

cellist

Mike Nichols

theatre and film director

2002

Florence Knoll Bassett

designer, architect

Trisha Brown

dancer, choreographer

Philippe de Montebello

museum director

Uta Hagen

actress, educator

Lawrence Halprin

landscape architect

Al Hirschfeld*

artist, caricaturist

George Jones

singer, songwriter

Ming Cho Lee

painter, stage designer

Smokey Robinson

singer, songwriter

2003

Austin City Limits

television show

Beverly Cleary

children’s book author

Rafe Esquith

arts educator

Suzanne Farrell

dancer, artistic director, arts educator

Buddy Guy

blues musician

Ron Howard

actor, director, writer

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

choir

Leonard Slatkin

conductor

George Strait

singer, songwriter

Tommy Tune

director, actor

2004

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

patron

Ray Bradbury

writer

Carlisle Floyd

opera composer

Rick Hart*

sculptor

Anthony Hecht*

poet

John Ruthven

painter

Vincent Scully

architectural historian

Twyla Tharp

dancer, choreographer

2005

Louis Auchincloss

writer

James DePreist

conductor

Paquito D’Rivera

musician

Robert Duvall

actor

Leonard Garment

arts advocate

Ollie Johnston

animator, artist

Wynton Marsalis

musician, educator

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

arts academy

Tina Ramirez

dancer, choreographer

Dolly Parton

singer, songwriter

2006

William Bolcom

composer

Cyd Charisse

dancer

Roy DeCarava

photographer

Wilhelmina C. Holladay

patron

Interlochen Center for the Arts

music school

Erich Kunzel

conductor

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

jazz ensemble

Gregory Rabassa

translator

Viktor Schreckengost

industrial designer

Ralph Stanley

bluegrass musician

2007

Morten Lauridsen

composer

N. Scott Momaday

author, poet

Roy R. Neuberger

patron

R. Craig Noel

theatre director

Les Paul

guitarist, inventor

Henry Steinway

patron

George Tooker

painter

Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival

music competition, festival

Andrew Wyeth

painter

2008

Olivia de Havilland

actress

Fisk Jubilee Singers

choral ensemble

Ford’s Theatre Society

theatre, museum

Hank Jones

jazz musician

Stan Lee

comic book writer

José Limón Dance Foundation

dance company

Jesús Moroles

sculptor

Presser Foundation

patron

Sherman Brothers

songwriters

2009

Bob Dylan

singer, songwriter

Clint Eastwood

actor, director

Milton Glaser

graphic designer

Maya Lin

artist, designer

Rita Moreno

singer, dancer, actress

Jessye Norman

opera singer

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

music school

Joseph P. Riley, Jr.

arts patron

School of American Ballet

ballet school

Frank Stella

painter, sculptor

Michael Tilson Thomas

conductor

John Williams

composer, conductor

2010

Robert Brustein

theatre producer, playwright

Van Cliburn

pianist

Mark di Suvero

sculptor

Donald Hall

poet

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

dance festival

Quincy Jones

musician, music producer

Harper Lee

author

Sonny Rollins

jazz musician

Meryl Streep

actress

James Taylor

singer, songwriter

2011

Will Barnet

painter, printmaker

Rita Dove

poet, author

Al Pacino

actor

Emily Rauh Pulitzer

patron, philanthropist

Martin Puryear

sculptor

Mel Tillis

singer, songwriter

André Watts

pianist

United Service Organizations (USO)

social-service agency

2012

Herb Alpert

musician, producer

Lin Arison

patron

Joan Myers Brown

dance company founder, director

Renée Fleming

singer

Ernest Gaines

author

Ellsworth Kelly

visual artist

Tony Kushner

playwright

George Lucas

director, producer

Elaine May

writer, director, performer

Laurie Olin

landscape architect

Allen Toussaint

musician, producer

Washington Performing Arts Society

presenter

2013

Julia Alvarez

writer

Brooklyn Academy of Music

music school

Joan Harris

patron

Bill T. Jones

dancer, choreographer

John Kander

composer

Jeffrey Katzenberg

film executive

Maxine Hong Kingston

writer

Albert Maysles

documentary filmmaker

Linda Ronstadt

singer

Billie Tsien

architect

James Turrell

visual artist

Tod Williams

architect

2014

Jon Baldessari

visual artist

Ping Chong

theatre director, choreographer, artist

Miriam Colón

actress

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

patron

Sally Field

actress, filmmaker

Ann Hamilton

visual artist

Stephen King

author

Meredith Monk

composer, singer, performer

George Shirley

singer

University Musical Society

presenter

Tobias Wolff

author, educator

2015

Mel Brooks

actor, comedian, writer

Sandra Cisneros

author

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center

theatre

Morgan Freeman

actor

Philip Glass

composer

Berry Gordy

record producer, songwriter

Santiago Jiménez, Jr.

musician

Moisés Kaufman

director, playwright

Ralph Lemon

dancer, choreographer, writer, visual artist

Audra McDonald

actress, singer

Luis Valdez

actor, writer, director

Jack Whitten

painter

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.